Slicing machine



7 Sept. 20, 1949. s w. URSCHEL ET AL SLICING MACHINE 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 18, 1944 .r Llllllull l Sept. 20, 1949.

G. W. URSCHEL ET AL SLICING MACHINE 5 SheetsSheet 2 Filed Nov. 18, 1944 P 1949. e; w. 'URSCI-IIEL ET AL 2,482,523

SLICING MACHINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov. 18, 1944.

Patented Sept. 20, 1949 i C NG MACHINE g I GeraId WLUrschel and'JoeR- Valparaiso, Ind.

' Application November s, 194 ;,lsria1No. 564,il29

"Thi' s' 'inventi'on concerns rotary cutter slicing; machines and has to do more particularly with in the desired position relatively to the knife,

especially the short end' portions has not been satisfactorily met. 7 p T r -He1etofore, attemptshavebeenmade to feed sliceable vegetable articles across apath successively traversed by knives carried in a rotary frame. In some instances these knives havebeen parallel-with-and spaced radially from the frame axis, and in other instances the knives have extended radially from the frame axis. When operating-thesemachines at their rated speed, the knives;be'cause of improper shape and pitch, skew and' -thereb'y misalign the uncut end portions of diminishing' mas's, whereby they are chopped irregularly-J Increasing the knife speed has the detrimental-effect of causing them to crush and mutilate the product. Because of those working in the art' failin g to comprehend the relation of knife shape, knife-pitch, speed of the knife car rier and'sp'eed of article feed, the machines were unsuccesssful', and, moreover, were incapable of adjustment for proper operation. Attempts to overcome the inability of these machines to satisfactorily cut the end portions of the articles have involved the use of article-holding devices including 'belts and wheels butnthey have not fulfilled'th'e desired 'functionj Resort has be'e'nh'ad' to machines with article holding cradles or pockets containing parallel slots accommodating slicing knives." The necessity of manually feeding articles into thesepockets increases processing cost and of course 7 limits operating speed;

cGenerally, the object of this "invention is the provi'sionbf a machine havinga rotary series of thi'n'rkniveslset at a, pitch which adapts them toS'Operate at highspe'e'd upon articles propelled at'high speed 'throu'gh aplane or zone succes sively traversed by theknives. Operation of the knives 1 atfthe high speed, while adjusted to a a pitch causingthem=to avoid batting and bruising the i'articles-or 1-the pieces' cut' therefrom, diminishes the tiltifig 'or-skewing force components ap- V o olaims; (01. 146-110) plied to'the articles by the knives. By feeding the articles at greater speed into theknives, the inertia of such articles increases their stability and also decreases the-tirne of application of the diminished tilting or skewing force-com ponents. T-hus','there is a compounding ofthe factors-contributing to improved operation; first, there is substantial diminution of the just mentioned disserviceable force components; second, the greater inertia of the articles'increases their resistance to disorientation by such force com ponents; and, third, thetime of action of such force components is 1 diminished. Collectively, these factors enable the machine to produce uniformly cut slices from the Very end portions of thearticlesp v r 5 A more s'pecific 'object is} the provision of a novel cutter simulating a wheel, wherein there are concentric hub and rim' elements between which thin knives are radially assembled and se'curedinsuch a fashion that the knives are drawn tautlyand slightly twisted about their individual-axes to incur akni-fe pitch gradient which is greater adjacently to thefhub. This adapts the knives to compensate for the lesser; linear 'speedof the knife portions nearer the hubwhereby the-knives can operate with equal path followed into the cutter. 1

The above and other desirable objects inherent;

in and encompassed by the invention will be more fully comprehended after reading the ensuingdescriptionwith' reference to the annexeddraw "ings'wherein: P

"Fig; 1- is a side elevational view of a slicing machine constituting 'a preferred embodiment of theinvention; i 4

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the machine shown in Fj 1; 3 v4.3, i- V 'Fig. 3 isa fragmentary side elevational view, with some": parts omitted for clarity, illustrating": the manner in whicharticl'es tobe "sliced are fed into the' slicerwheel and discharged therefrom in the sliced condition the line 65 of Fig. 7 and illustrating the assem'- bly of the parts shown in Fig. 5 within the cutter wheel.

Fig. 7 is an isometric View of thecutterwhe'el" and feed belt of the machine; and

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary sectional view taken at a plane radially intersecting'the wheelhub'po'rtion as indicated by the line 8-8. With continued reference to the drawings and particularly to Figs. 1 and-'2, the moving parts of the machine can beseen to be mounted upon the topll of a table-like supporting frame 12 which-includes any desirednumber of supporting uprights or; legs l3;-'

Generally, the machine operates upon sliceable articles which are placed upon the upper flight F of'a feed belt M- which moves in the direction of the-arrow shown'thereon-in Fig. 2 for advancing the articles axially-through a cutter wheel l5-' (see Fig;-7) within a zone thereof disposed between the radially outer periphery of a hub l6 (inner blade holder) and the radially inner periphery of a'rim- H (outer blade holder). The hubor inner holder l6 and the rim or outer hold-- :1. er I! are regarded as a rotary blade-holding structure; The spokes of this wheel constitute knives [8 50 arranged'that; they pass successivelythrougheach article as it traverses the wheel, such knives; traversing the article at sections spacedlengthwise f the course of the article.

Both-the wheel '15. and the belt [4 are driven fromanelectric motor Mmounted upon the table top. One groove within-amulti-g-roove pulley l9 drives' a-belt 2| which extends about'and-in turn drives-a pulley 2-2" constrained for rotation'with' a drive shaft-23; Thisshaft'n'carries the cutter wheel l upon its-forward end -as illustrated in Fig.7. Shaft 2 3is 'journalled within a bearing 24 suitably mounted'uponthe table top and having. acircular cutter wheel housin 25-formed in tegrally with its front end. The front end-ofthe housing 25 is' partially closed at its rimbyan annular'mem'ber 2B suitably s'ecured to the front edgeofthe housingv at-its outer periphery. Housing 25 embraces the cutter wheel l5 to serve as aguard therefor and-tocatch any parts should they be thrown therefrom accidentally because of the high operating speeds of the wheel;

An opening '26 is formed-in the housing 25in registrywith the path to be taken by articles'fed into the; wheel; see Fig.-4:- At -the lower edge ofthisopening 26'; saidhousing; is provided with an article transfer surface 21: flushawith the upper surface of the upper belt flight. Aruttingedge 28;? extending radially ot'the cutter wheel;- is formedalong the front edge of the transfer surface 21 contiguously with the path traversed by V the cuttingedges-ZQ of the knives l-B for cooperation therewith in severing the articles.

A-second-groove upon the motor pulley I 9=drives a pulley 31 (Figs; '1 and 2')? through a belt 32. Belt 32; and pulley 3lare part ofa power train for driving the feed belt-'14. Pulley 31 is constrained for rotation witha' 's l'raf-t1,33: which is 4 journalled in bearings 34 and 35 and drives a belt pulley shaft 35 through companion beveled gears 38 and Si. Table top supported bearings 38 and 39 rotatively support the shaft 35 to which a drive pulley 4| for the belt 14 is rotatively fixed. An idler pulley 42 for the belt I4 is carried by a shaft 43 rotatively supported in bearings 44 and 45 carried by the wheel guard housing 25.

Sideboards Mfandfl exterid lengthwise of and project upwardly from opposite sidesof the upper belt flight F- Sideboard 4'? has been broken away at -48 in Fig. 1 to disclose a notch 49 in a midsec'tionof the sideboard 46. This notch 49 is for receiving an enlarged end portion 5| of an adjustable a'rticle guide plate 52. A pivot stud 53 projecting vertically from the sideboard 46 passes through the enlarged portion 5|. A handle 54 is secured't'o the enlarged portion 5| and is normally urged iii aclockwise direction as viewed in Fig. 2

.. face of the guide? plate and projectingoutwardly through a hole 58in the sideboard ili where lock nuts 59 determine the limit ofoutward movement of a washer B0 axially of said stud. This washer abuts against the outer face of the sideboard 46 I and thereby for-ms astop which together with the spring determines a=variable spaceof the plate 52 from the sideboard 4-1- inopposed relation therewith;

The outer ends-of theknife blades-are inserted into radial slots in the Wheelrim I 1. Retention of the blades-in these slots is accomplished by means ,ofcap screws 66- which pass through holes 6's (see Fig. 5) in-the outer ends of the blades.

The opposite or inner ends of the blades are anchored in-the wheelhub It by means of headed tensioning members 68- (see Fig.5). These tensioning. member-shave'threaded' shanks 6'9 and elongated heads each-having a=diametric slot II .intersected by a hole 12 for registration with a respective hole 73 within thebladeinsertedinto the slot, and for receiving a pin is which also passes through the associated bladehole 13.

Each of the tensioning member'heads has a flat facel5=formed at anangle tothe plane of the This angularity between the:

associated slot H; face lit-and the slot ll of these tensioning member heads is for determiningthe pitch of the blades as will be presently more readily apparent.

In the formation of thewheelhub IS, a plurality of radial holes 1-6 are drilled for receiving the heads of the tensioningmembers 68'. These holes are ofsubstantially the' same diameter as said heads. Holes 16: are counter drilled to re-' ceive the shank- 69 of thehe'ade'd: tensioning' members t8- and these shanks'are sufficiently long to' project radially through the counter drills pastthe inner'periphery ll of the wheel hub as illustrated in Fig; '7. Subsequent tothe forming of the holes it an annular section of thehubis cut away as illustrated in Figs. G and 8-to leave a face E8- which intersects said holes.

the bores" or holes 76 that a ring -18 when-laid against said face will fit flatly.- against the faces M are employed for securing thering; 19" to the" hub Was illustrated in Figs: 6 andg'k This face is so spaced from the diametrically opposite side ofv Fig. '7 it can be seen that the slots 65 in the wheel rim ll .are-oriented=withl a slight pitch so; that the leading edges 82 of the blades adjacently to the rim are slightly nearer to the backside-of the wheel. than arelthe trailing edges 83 of these blades at the-same transfer section- A somewhat greater pitch is provided for the blades adl'acently to the wheel hub; that is,-.the'angle p. (Figs; '5, (land 7)-exceeds the angle p in Fig. '7. Greater pitch at those transverse sections of the blades nearer the hub is desired, because, during rotation of the wheeL'the curvilinear speed of these sections is less-than that at sections nearer the It will be noted that the disposition. ofthe rim slots 65 and 'of the -blade:tensioning' Wheel rim.

member-slots H at the different angles 1) and p cause the blades to be twisted slightl about a longitudinal axis, thereby incurring a pitch gradient for the transverse knife sections, decreasing according to'the distance of these the wheel "hub.

The mode of operation of the machine can be readily understood from Figs. 3 and 4. In Fig. 3

sections from the-upper belt flight F which moves toward the knife structure rotatingwithin the casing 25 is shown loaded with celery stocks. These stocks are fed endwise through the opening 26 in the rotor guard or casing member 25 and at such speed that their momentum carries them across the guide *face'2'l of the article supporting member 25 Where the cutting edge 28 of this face 21 cooperates with the knives l8 for severing the article into slices S. I V

The operating principle of the machine is illustrated in detail in Fig.4 where a pickle-P is shown '1 partially sliced. The slices which have been cut from the article P are designated S. There is such a coordination of," feeding speed 'for the articles as P, the rotary speedof the'cutter structure and pitch of the'knives l8 that-as an'article is fed into the knives it approaches but does not exceed one unit a of blade pitch'per interval of time for the blades 18 to move a distance equal to their width (between their leading and-trailing edges) circumferentially of the cutter structure.

to'th'e knife'pitclnthe leadingedges pf' the knives in traversing the articles will remove suflicient materialifromj the endsof the unslijce'd Ip'ortion :lat fnop'art of the broad flat faces" 'H of the knives will be abuttedagainst by the severed end faces ofith'e un sliced portions. In other words,

by the time an article as P has moved a distance a (which is the pitch for the transversesection of the knife in registry with the article) the leading cuttingedge of the knife will have moved a distance at leastequal to the distance between the cutting and trailing knifeedges. Consequently, the trailing edge of the knife and all Y portions of the body of the knife between the cut-.

ting andirailing edges. will be moved out of registry with every section of the article -beingcut" by .the time that section is, moved axially'of thej cutter structure a distance that would carry such I 7 section against the knife body. jIt follows'there forethat the knife blades offer no resistance to.

the path followed by the articles whereby they are-passed ,througl 1'the cutter substantially as whole bodies consisting of groups of contiguous slices. I

bodies or articles in free flight'as though thecut By so synchronizing the feeding speed of A the articles and the rotational speed of thecutter structure and controlling this speedwith respect Excepting for the .efiect ofthe air in retarding the flight of these sliced bodies they follow" substantially the same i trajectory as unslice d terastructurewere not presentfandjthese bodies were discharged from'the belt across the guide faceZB rand-allowed to fall by. the force of gravity.

heavier and lighter. parts of sliced articles, thelighter parts being directed. into a lower section l2 .of asreceiver 13 while the particles or slices or more concentrated Weight are directed into an upper section." of the receiver. I

Since the knife blades 18 are very thiniandare drawn taughtly between the rim and hub of the cutter. structure, and are of a pitch so cor-- related with the feed speed of the articles and of the revolvingspeed of these knives, only: negligible components of force are imparted to thearticles as- P transversely of their path of feed.

It followsfthat the knives l8 do not bat, mutilate .or bruise the slices nor do the knives perceptibly disturb the orientation of the articles P relatively .to the knives. That is, with respect to the orientationi'it "is'usually desired that the longitudinal airisfio'f elongated articles shall be directed -no'r-" mally-to the plane in which the knife bladesare I revolved-so that these articles willbe cut into transverse slices. 'A satisfactoryfeeding speed for articles has been found to be about 22'feet' per second, although this speed may be varied \i somewhat without destroying the practical utility of-the machine. When the machine is operating upon articles fed at this rate, the time interval duringwhich force components can ,be-applied to the articles transversely thereof 'by the knives mg; is exceedingly short and this, together with the fact that these disserviceable force components havebeen diminished to a practically imperceptible magnitude, causes the knives to avoid= twistinggtipping or skewing the articles so that (all "l in all partsof the -articlesjends as well as center, the slices will be truly transverse sections of the article and possess similarity. A further factor contributing to' the stability of the article While bing operated upon by the knives is the high factor of inertia thereof attributable to the high linear speed of the article.

The slicing planes of the knives through thearticles in addition to being made parallel as illustrated in full'lines in Fig. 4 can also be made virtually perpendicular to the axis of the articles as P by inclining the article supporting surface 21 and the flight F of the feed belt into the posi- I.

tion shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4. In the dotted line position, the articlesu'pportingface 21 is dis posed within a plane perpendicular to the bodies of the knives 18 at the time they traverse the cutting edge 28 of said surfaceZ'l. I

Articles fed onto the belt flight F between the Sideboards 46' and V 41 need not be carefully orientated; ,It is only necessary for them to be arranged generally'lengthwise of the belt and if the articles are sufiiciently long thesideboards 46 and ll-will sufiieiently pre-align the articles. The article deflector member 52is operable to im-f prove the alignment of misaligned articles as tin-13%. a're.- carried. thereagainsti during movement:

a".- series of thin. flexible blades: arranged radially: ofi said structure between. said holders and lin;

spaced relation circumferentially' thereof as the sole connecting means: therebetween, each. blade havingn leadingcutting' edge and a trailing edge extending lengthwise thereof, means for anchor' ing. outer endportionss of the. blades to therouter holder'- while disposing thercuttingredges of' such outer portions 'slightl'yaxially oft theirotary strucrture' fromthe trailing edges ofsuclr-outerportions, means. for anchoring inner end portions of the blades to'the inner holderwhile disposingthe cutting edges of such-innerrend portions slightly axially of the structure'from thetrailing: edges of such inner endportions in the sameaxialdirectionthat the cutting'edges of the outer end portions are-disposed from: their associated trailing'; edge portions, and means for displacing at least one'of the-anchorage means radially-of the structure for drawing the blades taut between their inner andouter anchorage means.

2: In a slicing machine, a rotary blade-carrier frame; a: series of thin flexibleblades arranged radially on saidframe in spaced relation circumferentially; thereof and each having a.\leaoling; cutting edge and a trailing edge extending lengthwise thereof, means for anchoring outer endzportionsof' the blades to-the frame whiledisposing the cutting edges of such outer portions.

axially of the frame from the trailing edges of such outer portions, means for anchoring inner end portions of.- the blades to the frame while disposing the cutting edges of such inner end portions axiallyof the frame from the=trailing edges ofsuchinnerendlportions inthe same axial direction that the cutting edgesof the outer end portionsare disposedfromitheir associatedtrailing edge portions, but withgreater axial spacing toimparta twist to the bladesand-thuseffecta.

pitch gradient wherein the pitch is lessin transverse. blade sections nearer the outer endv portions, and means for holdingthe blades taut I their cutting. edges disposed slightly axially of the. structures. from their trailing edges,,said.innec connecting means beingxcoo-perab'le with the outer connecting means to hold the blades under tension, and the inner connecting meansbeing operable to hold the inner cnd'por-tions of the. blades with their cutting, edges disposed in the samev direction from their trailing, edges. axially.

of the structure as areithacuttin'g, edges. at theouter ends. of theblade butby. aslightly'greater distance thereby placing av slight twist in the blades. I

-' In a slicingmachine, a rotary cutter comprising: a hubstructure, a rim structure. coaxial:

withthehubstructure and spaced radially outwardly'. therefrom' radial blade holding slots in one-of said structures and disposed in respective: planes arrangedisimilarly. at an angle to'the plane'of saidstructures, radially adjustable bladeholding: and blade-tautness adjusting members:

in=-the :other: of I said' structures, said members beinggrespectively mated: with said slots in opposed relationtherewith' radially of the structures, said members also ,havingbladaholding slots in planes similarly arranged: at" an angle to the plane-of said:structures,v andxblades: extending respectivelywbetweeneandsecured in the slots of said blade holding members and-'the slots mated therewith to constitutethe sole means of supporting said rimstructureruponthe hub structure, and saidbladeshaving: leading cutting edges and trailing; edges; extending: lengthwise thereof radially of said structures and turned at a pitch determined by the angles of said slots.

5; In a slicing machine, a rotary cutter comprising a hub structure,- a rim structure coaxial with the hub structure and-spaced -radially outwardly therefrom, radial blade' holding slots in one-of said structures and disposed in respective planes arranged similarly at an angle to the plane. of'said structures, the other of said structures-having an end face andradial bores respectively opposed to said. slots radially of the structure, saidbores having side wall openings formed by the intersection of such-side Walls-by said end face, radially adjustable blade-holding and, blade-tautness adjusting members in said bores for. movement. axially thereof pursuant to such adjustment. said members being respectively mated with said slots in opposed relation with. their. bores, said blade holding members having.facesregisterable with the bore side wall openingsand also havingblade holding slots disposed, in planes similarly arranged to the plane ofIsaidIstructures at. an. angle predetermined by placing the faces of: said members in registry with the bore side wall openings, a retaining member attachable onto said end face into engagement-with said blade holding member faces to maintain their registryw with the bore side walliopenings, andblades extending respectively between and secured in the slots of said blade holding. members and the slots mated therewith to constitute the sole means of supporting. said rim structure upon the-hub structure, and said blades having leading, cutting edges and trailing edges extending lengthwise thereof radially of said structures and turned at a pitch determined by the angles ofsaid slots.

6. In a slicing, machine wherein sliceable articles are propelled. lengthwise of and within a course',,a' rotary blade-carrier comprising a rim anda hubya series of elongated thin blades arranged radially onsaid carrier in between the hub and" rim as the sole connecting means therebetween, said blades. being in spaced relation circumferentially' of the carrier and each having a leading cutting edge and atrailing edge extending lengthwise thereof along opposite edges of opposite broad facesysaidblades being a substantially. uniform thickness within the portionsvanced portion. of the course' than their trailing.

edges, means for supporting said blades at their ends to maintain them in tension and additional means adjacent the ends of the blades to main tain said ends of the blades at different angles to cause the blades to be twisted about their respective longitudinal axes, thereby incurring a pitch gradient for the transverse knife sections of each blade decreasing according to the distance of these sections from the axis of the carrier, an article guide structure having an article supporting face in adjacent parallelism with said course in a less advanced position than said blades, said structure having a shearing edge coinciding with an edge of said article supporting face and arranged radially of the carrier in cooperative con'tiguitywith each blade as'it traverses the course, and an article feed belt having a feed flight advancing along said course in substantially flush relation with said article supporting face, and means for driving said belt at such a speed relatively to the carrier that articles carried to said article supporting face proceed thereacross by virtue of their inertia past its shearing edge into the path of said blades at a speed which is substantially one unit of blade pitch per time interval for the blades to move their width circumferentially of the carrier.

7. In a slicing machine, a rotary blade-carrier comprising a hub and a rim, a series of elongated thin blades arranged radially on said carrier between the rim and hub as the sole connecting means therebetween, said blades being in spaced relation circumferentially of the carrier and each having a leading cutting edge and a trailing edge extending lengthwise thereof along oppositeedges of opposite broad faces, said blades being of substantially uniform thickness within the portions thereof disposed between said faces, said blades being pitched so their leading edges are nearer one end of the carrier than their trailing faces and their bodies between said edges are inclined to the plane of the circular path traversed thereby during carrier rotation, means for supporting said blades at their ends to maintain them in tension and additional means adjacent the ends of the blades to maintain said ends of the blades at different angles to causethe blades to be twisted about their respective longiltudinal axes, thereby incurring a pitch gradient for the transverse knife sections of each blade decreasing according to the distance of these sections from the axis of the carrier and means for directing sliceable articles into the circular path transversed by said blades during carrier rotation, comprising an article guide structure having an article supporting surface at said end of the carrier and with a shearing edge arranged radially of the carrier contiguously to the blades for operating complementally therewith in slicing the articles, an article feed belt having a feed flight arranged flushly with said article supporting face, and means for driving said belt in a direction to advance said flight toward said face at such a speed relatively to the speed of the blade-carrier that articles carried to said article supporting face proceed thereacross by virtue of their inertia past its shearing edge into the path of said blades at a speed substantially equal to one unit of blade pitch per time interval for the blades to move their width circumferentially of b the carrier, and said article supporting face being disposed at an angle to the plane of the circular path traversed by said blades and substantially normal to the bodies of said blades as they pass said cutting edge. I

8. In a slicing machine, a rotary blade-carrier structure comprising a hub and a rim, a series of elongated blades arranged radially in said structure between the rim and hub as the sole connecting means therebetween, said blades being in spaced relation circumferentially of the carrier and each having a leading cutting edge and a trailing edge extending lengthwise thereof, said blades being thin and twistable from a relaxed substantially flat condition, and means on the carrier structure at the ends of the blades for placing the same under lengthwise tension while holding them twisted, and the twist in each of said tensioned and twisted blades being of the character that the leading edges thereof are slightly displaced in the same direction from their trailing edges axially of the carrier structure and to a slightly greater degree at their ends nearer the carrier axis than at their opposite ends.

9. In a slicing machine, a rotary blade-carrier structure comprising an outer rim and an inner hub, a series of elongated blades arranged radially in said structure in spaced relation circumferentially thereof and extending between said rim and said hub as the sole connecting means therebetween each blade having a leading cutting 1 edge and a trailing edge extending lengthwise thereof, said blades being thin and twistable from a relaxed substantially flat condition, and

means on the carrier structure at the ends of the blades for placing the same under lengthwise tension while holding them twisted, and said blade tensioning and holding means being disposed for holding the twisted and tensioned blades so both ends of their leading edges are slightly displaced in the same direction axially of the frame structure from the corresponding ends of their trailing edges but with a slightly greater displacement of the leading edges from the trailing edges at the inner ends of the blades.

GERALD W. URSCHEL.

JOE R. URSCHEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the his of this patent:

UNITED STATES PA'I'ENTS 

